The life of New York-born Jewish theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is explored in this breathtaking biopic from The Prestige and Inception director Christopher Nolan. The film is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin about the theoretical physicist who Time Magazine nicknamed the “father of the atom bomb”.
After being recruited to work on producing a new weapon against Hitler’s Nazi army at the tail end of WW2, J Robert Oppenheimer (played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy) finds himself caught in a whirlwind of doubt and guilt as he weighs up the consequences of his new invention. Caught between the love of two women - his wife Kitty is played by Emily Blunt, while his troubled communist lover Jean is gorgeously depicted by Florence Pugh - Robert is also seduced by extreme left-wing ideas without ever committing himself to be a member of the American Communist party.
Oppenheimer’s life starts to unravel after the war when two atom bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and maiming thousands of innocent civilians. Now questioning the need for further research in weapons of mass destruction, Robert becomes persona non grata in Washington and is later questioned for his "unpatriotic" political views.
This is Nolan’s most ambitious and best film to date and, if I’m really being honest, I doubt very much that we are likely to see a better film being released in 2023. There is depth to Nolan’s direction and vision for this biopic that feels like a love letter to cinema in its purest form.
